Sokka: The Assassin
by PS2-JS1
Summary: After the death of his mother, Sokka sneaks onto the Southern Raiders' ship, leaving behind his tribe in the South Pole, accidentally stumbling into a different, unexpected, and difficult new life in the Fire Nation.
1. Introduction

_Prologue_

The snow fell softly, polluted with specs of black soot. The white powder had been crushed down to the metal surface of the deck by boots. All of them led to the middle of the ship where soldiers clad in heavy red and black armor surrounded a kid. The boy was tan with blue eyes and couldn't have been more than about nine years old. All of the troops were in a fighting stance, ready to fight until they realized that it was a defenseless little kid. Confusion would have been shown on their faces but they were been covered by red, sea hawk mimicking helmets.

They led him up to the bridge, into the heat, but with the heat in the frigate came a strong odor of burning coal. One of the men led him while the rest followed them. When the man opened the door to the bridge, a man turned around. He wore a uniform larger, more intimidating armor of the same colors, however, his uniform did not have a mask, which revealed that he was a pale old man, yet still managed to looked menacing. When he saw the boy he was completely dumbfounded.

"What is he doing on our ship?" he said quickly and aggressively. The boy stepped back a step, slightly scared of the man because of his hostility. The man who had led him there protectively stepped in front of the kid.

"Sir, he is just a kid, he probably didn't know any better." The man replied with a surprisingly high amount of confidence.

"Probably?" He paused. "Probably!? Lieutenant, he is not supposed to be on my ship, therefore he is to be assumed as a threat." The man was completely enraged by such a simple word.

"But sir, there is no way he could be threatening, he looks like he's scared half to death." The man, who was apparently a lieutenant stepped back from in front of the boy, but he quickly coward behind the man again.

"If you want to believe that he is not a threat, then you may do so. But, realize that you are putting everyone in danger by doing so, therefore, you will be put on probation until he leaves the ship, or until you come to your senses."

"Then sir, I propose that we return him to the Southern Water Tribe." The boy seemed rather happy with this idea, but he didn't show it in fear of it getting rejected. This random man, a lieutenant of the Fire Nation, the same country that was set on destroying his and everyone else's, was suggesting to let him go back home.

The South Pole was the home of his tribe, the Southern Water Tribe. Everyone had eyes the color of the ocean, tan skin, and brunette hair just like him. His family was there, his father who was chief of the water tribe, his mother Kya, his sister Katara who had magical abilities that could move water, and Bato who was his father's best friend and like an uncle. It was where he had been born and raised. He had been learning everything needed to survive and sustain himself whenever he wandered aboard the ship that he was standing on now.

"No!" His thoughts were interrupted and hopes of returning home crushed by the mask less man. "We are currently en route to the capital where we will relay that the mission was a success to the Fire Lord." This peaked the boys interests once again. They were on a specific mission that was important enough to inform the Fire Lord in person. Things weren't adding up, it just seemed like a normal raid on the tribe, which is almost definitely under the radar of the fire lord in most instances. In fact, its true for all instances, except for this one of course.

"Sir, what shall I do until then, it will be at least week before we reach the capital, he can't just stand here the whole time." The lieutenant expressed general concern in his tone of voice.

"Well...part of your probation is the demotion of your quarters to the bottom of the ship, and as it just so happens, the room that you have 'picked' has two beds, or you can come to your senses and 'dispose' of the child." Replied the higher ranking man, taking joy in using emphasis. "Dismissed." He said in a firm, leader like tone.

It seemed like a rather nice room, place strategically near the bridge so he could get there quickly if something happened. It had a window to let in sunlight which it was doing currently, it had carpeting in the center to cover the bare metal floor, a large bed, and a large uniform storage compartment. A trunk under his bed and his uniforms were all he was allowed to take, he packed them together with jerky, mechanical body movements, clearly angered by the latest turn of events. The lieutenant and the boy walked alone down a long hallway on the lowest passenger deck the ship had. They had been quiet for most of the walk, until the lieutenant finally broke the silence, "What's your name kid?" He said in a firm voice.

"It... It's Sokka." He said, barely being able to talk because of anxiety.

"Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." The lieutenant said to himself. "So why did you sneak onto the ship?" He knew he was going to be asked this question, he even had a plotted out answer.

"I...I don't really know actually, the whole village was being attacked, it was so crazy that I couldn't think straight." Sokka said, realizing the stupidity of what he had just said.

"Not your finest hour kid." He said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"So, what's your name, if you don't mind me asking." His voice was loaded with curiosity, remembering that he hadn't heard a single name while being on board so far.

He remained silent, as they apparently reached their room, which stood at the very end of the hall, right by the engine. He opened the door inwards to find that there were two small beds on either side of the room, with a fire nation flag hanging over one, and a flag with a sea raven over the other. They also had a standard issue trunk for Sokka.

"You can just call me Lieutenant. It's what everyone else calls me here anyway." Disappointment was starting to become a common theme in his voice.

"But Lieutenant, you must have an actual name." Sokka said, wanting an actual answer.

"Just go to sleep." The Lieutenants voice was unforgiving, almost harsh to Sokka. He followed the order, laying down underneath the fire nation flag. He lay on top of the sheets because the heat was still prevalent, until he fell into a slumber, dreaming of home.


	2. Discoveries

_Discoveries_

The black specs floated through the sky, as if it were an ominous snow, but the chief and his fellow tribesmen fought on. This had been a natural system for warning them of an incoming raid, but now only served to infuriate them. They fought to no avail, perhaps they had been distracting them instead of actually trying to raid them, but all they could think about currently was staying alive and fighting. After several minutes of fighting with no real damage to either side, the red invaders started to retreat, an odd move considering that they were starting to overpower the warriors.

The chief stood in the deep snow where he had been fighting, his curiosity rising due to the odd circumstance. Something was very wrong with this picture, they had done no serious damage to them even they could have easily done so, then they just walk away. His thoughts had been confirmed when his daughter ran up to him.

"Dad, mom is in trouble!" she said, panting from sprinting several hundred yards through mushy snow.

His heart sank as he realized that they were decoys. With adrenaline still rushing, he rushed back to his igloo only to find that it was completely empty. He looked around, searching for any possible clues but didn't find anything out of the ordinary except for the fact that his wife was no where to be found. The place seemed much emptier than it did when she was there, but not as empty as his heart was starting to feel. Except for the betrothal necklace that he had dawned upon her after being given to him from his mother. He quickly deposited it in his pocket.

His daughter finally arrived at the house, since she was only eight she wasn't very big, meaning she couldn't run as fast. She had a look of confusion as she observed the same details that he had. Then she had a thought that would make matters even more grim than they were presently, but she had to say it anyway. "Dad, where's Sokka?"

* * *

><p>Sokka woke up, confused for a few moments about being in a dim candle-lit room that was entirely to hot until the memories from last night surged back to him. He stumbled out of bed, deciding that he should at least get some fresh air. As he was about to walk out the door, he looked back upon the room and noticed the chest that he could only assume was his. Sniffing his own clothes, he discovered that the smell of arctic seal had finally set in from yesterday's lunch. He walked back to the chest to look inside, but unsurprisingly did not find anything. He walked out of the room and traced back his footsteps from last night, eventually arriving at the bridge.<p>

"Good Agni... What is that awful stench?!" The captain of the ship almost immediately after he walked in the door. The captain looked behind him to find the little boy standing just inside of the doorway. All that Sokka could think is, he did not look happy.

After about five minutes of the captain's eyes nearly popping out of his skull, shouting at him about how he is supposed to be a prisoner, his stench being able to take out an entire army, and various privates walking through the bridge giving him apologetic looks, he was finally released to go out onto the deck, he had oddly enough wanted the ordeal to go on longer because he was quite comical without intending to. From what he could tell from the windows of the bridge and now, the days were now starting to pronounce themselves. It was an odd concept that the sun was becoming high in the sky unlike what he was used to, which was nearly touching the horizon for half of the year before disappearing for the other half.

He had never been outside of his tribe, he had only heard about the rest of the world from some of the elders. He had also not been on a ship like this before or even believed in the art of bending. His sister's bending only seemed like magic to him because it seemed surreal, but after seeing fire bending from the soldiers that were attacking his village, he had finally believed it. It's funny how quickly he got thrown into a completely separate world from his, yet they were not separate at all. Thinking about it all at once was a bit too much for Sokka to handle at one time and he soon began to hyperventilate.

Sokka thought back to his tribe, and to a particular time with his mother. She looked down, with her ocean blue eyes, at him and his sister and tried calming them down when their father went on his first hunt since they were born. She said, "Whenever everything changes around, just focus on what is familiar, like yourself, and breathe deeply and slowly."

He thought about how similar he was to when he was with his mother and now, and his breathing instinctively slowed down. Sokka wasn't sure where his mother had learned this, or if she even had to learn this, but to him, she was one of the smartest women that he knew. This didn't mean much since his only comparison was the rest of the tribe, but to him, it meant the world.

He walked around the deck, only receiving an occasional glance by random soldiers who were walking by. The whole place was foreign to him, however he tried to remain as calm as possible, repeating his mother's lesson repeatedly in his head. He wandered through every part of the ship except for the individual sleeping cabins, trying to wrap his head around all of the things about his temporary home and what has and would happen to him. His conclusion was very grim and unwelcoming to him, he wouldn't be able to see his family or home for a long time, if ever, and this place would never be considered a home. He technically chose to get on to the ship, but these events were never his intention, nor were they his doing, therefore this very ship, and these very people stole him away from the only life he knew.

When the sun nearly dipped below the horizon, he finally went back to his room, positive that there was absolutely nothing to do for a kid in his situation and he was already knew thinking was not going to help his dire situation. So he vanished into his sleeping quarters, taking a newly discovered route that led from the deck to the cabins so he didn't suffer the wrath of the captain again, even though it was rather humorous.

As he walked through the door, he discovered he was not alone. The Lieutenant hadn't been there very long though, because he had only taken off his mask. He had an appearance of what a traditional fire nation citizen had, at least from the descriptions he had been given; pale skin, golden eyes, and raven hair. He had a look of surprise as he wasn't expecting the door to open.

"I didn't think I would see you again, I've been looking all throughout the ship and couldn't find you." Sokka said, with a slight worry to his tone.

"You saw me in the bridge earlier, when the captain was yelling at you, that place still smells like a fish market; this place is starting to smell like it too." He said, nearly laughing, throwing Sokka off completely because of his previous seriousness, but then realizing this room was about to become the same way.

"You should have changed into the clothes that were in your trunk." He said like it was so obvious that he were looking at directions for it.

Sokka walked over to his trunk without saying a word and opened it for the Lieutenant to see that nothing occupied it.

"That would explain why, come with me and I'll get you some clothes with less... powerful smell." The Lieutenant placed his helmet back on, then carried the empty chest out of the door with ease while Sokka followed him. They soon arrived at the lowest deck, the storage deck. When they walked down the stairs, they were immediately greeted by an inventory tracker, who immediately walked around his desk to stand at attention since he was only a private.

"At ease." said Lieutenant, to which the private relaxed.

"How may I be of assistance Lieutenant?" said the other man in uniform.

He showed the empty crate to the man, to which the private frowned. He then pointed at Sokka and said, "That awful stench you are smelling right now is him, he needs new clothes."

"I'm sorry, but he is a prisoner and isn't even allowed to be out of a cell, let alone given clothes. I cannot fulfill that order." He said, his apologetic tone wasn't very convincing.

The Lieutenant in one swift motion pushed the man aggressively onto the desk, pinning him down. In an angered, homicidal tone, with gritted teeth he said, "I am your superior, you will do what I say, now get the kid some clothes before you regret refusing him clothes." He then let him go, stepping back to let him get up.

"I'll see if I can find something." The private said, like he had just seen a ghost. It even frightened Sokka a bit. The inventory tracker walked off like a dog with its tail between its legs. The Lieutenant was not one to become enemies with, because such a foolish decision could prove lethal.


End file.
